Kent State selects Nathan Fanger to lead track and field and cross country programs

Kent State's Nathan Fanger is considered one of the nation's best throw coaches in track & field.

Now, he'll get an opportunity to lead an entire program.

The Golden Flashes on Wednesday announced Fanger, the program's associated head coach since 2015, has been promoted to Director of Track and Field/Cross Country. He succeeds Bill Lawson, who retired following Kent State's participation in the NCAA championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 8-11.

Kent State Director of Athletics Randale L. Richmond made the official announcement with a press release. Fanger first arrived at Kent State as a freshman in 1996 and joined the coaching staff immediately following his career.

"After a national search, it became quite clear that the best candidate to lead our track and field and cross country program was right in our back yard," Richmond said in the release. "Coach Fanger has been a staple of success as a student-athlete, coach, and ambassador for Kent State Athletics. He has done a tremendous job with our throws program in transforming them into a consistently elite group and I'm confident he will do the same for our entire programs."

Fanger has helped the Flashes capture 16 Mid-American Conference team championships during his time on the coaching staff and has twice been named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead the charge as the next Director of Track and Field/Cross Country here at Kent State University," Fanger said in the release. "I want to thank Randale Richmond and the hiring committee for allowing me to take the reins and lead this program to new heights. I'm looking forward to working with an awesome young coaching staff as Kent State Track and Field becomes a force to be reckoned with at the conference and national levels."

Fanger's throws have accounted for 34 All-America honors, highlighted by Matthias Tayala's hammer throw national title in 2014 and Danniel Thomas-Dodd's shot put national title in 2017.

In March, Jake Wickey posted the fifth national runner-up performance under Fanger's guidance in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships was one for the record books, as Kent State's combined 23 points were the second most by any school in the throwing events. Thomas-Dodd posted the second-best shot put mark in meet history to become the Flashes' first female national champion in any sport and added a fourth-place performance in the discus throw.

On the men's side, Reggie Jagers III took second in the discus after being in the leading heading into the final round of throws.

Fanger's throwers have a combined 82 individual MAC championships and own the conference meet record in six events. Wickey became the conference's first four-time weight throw champion with his victory at the indoor meet in February.

The only four-time discus champion in MAC history, Fanger was inducted into the Varsity "K" Hall of Fame in 2013. A two-time NCAA qualifier, he set the school record in the discus (194 feet, 3 inches) with a mark that only one Flash has managed to beat in the 22 years since.

A native of Kalispell, Montana, Fanger graduated from Kent State in December 2000 with a degree in education and resides in Brimfield with his wife, Lori. The couple have three children; sons Jonathan and Adam and daughter Savannah.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Nathan Fanger to lead Kent St. track & field and cross country programs